215 Search Results

The results of a search for the production of two scalar bosons in final states with two photons and two tau leptons are presented. The search considers both nonresonant production of a Higgs boson pair, HH, and resonant production via a new boson X which decays either to HH or to H and a new scalar Y. The analysis uses up to 138 fb$$^{−1}$$ of proton-proton collision data, recorded between 2016 and 2018 by the CMS experiment at the LHC at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. No evidence for signal is found in the data. For the nonresonant production,more » the observed (expected) upper limit at 95% confidence level (CL) on the HH production cross section is set at 930 (740) fb, corresponding to 33 (26) times the standard model prediction. At 95% CL, HH production is observed (expected) to be excluded for values of κ$$_{λ}$$ outside the range between −12 (−9.4) and 17 (15). Observed (expected) upper limits at 95% CL for the X → HH cross section are found to be within 160 to 2200 (200 to 1800) fb, depending on the mass of X. In the X → Y(ττ)H(γγ) search, the observed (expected) upper limits on the product of the production cross section and decay branching fractions vary between 0.059–1.2 fb (0.087–0.68 fb). For the X → Y(γγ)H(ττ) search the observed (expected) upper limits on the product of the production cross section and Y → γγ branching fraction vary between 0.69–15 fb (0.73–8.3 fb) in the low Y mass search, tightening constraints on the next-to-minimal supersymmetric standard model, and between 0.64–10 fb (0.70–7.6 fb) in the high Y mass search.[graphic not available: see fulltext]« less

A pioneering machine-learning-based flavor-tagging algorithm combining same-side and opposite-side tagging is used to obtain the equivalent of 27$$\,$$000 tagged B$$^0_\mathrm{s}$$$$\to$$ J/$$\psi\, \phi$$(1020) decays from pp collisions at $$\sqrt{s} =$$ 13 TeV, collected by the CMS experiment and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 96.5 fb$$^{-1}$$. A time- and flavor-dependent angular analysis of the $$\mu^+\mu^-$$K$$^+$$K$$^-$ final state is used to measure parameters of the $$\mathrm{B}^0_\mathrm{s}$$-$$\overline{\mathrm{B}}^0_\mathrm{s}$$ system. The weak phase is measured to be $$\phi_\mathrm{s}$$ = $$-$$73 $$\pm$$ 23 (stat) $$\pm$$ 7 (syst) mrad, which, combined with a $$\sqrt{s}$$ = 8 TeV CMS result, gives $$\phi_\mathrm{s}$$ = $$-$$74 $$\pm$$ 23 mrad. Thismore » value differs from zero by 3.2 standard deviations, providing evidence for $CP$ violation in B$$^0_\mathrm{s}$$$$\to$$ J/$$\psi\,\phi$$(1020) decays. All measured physics parameters are found to agree with standard model predictions where available.« less

A measurement of the substructure of bottom quark jets (b jets) in proton-proton (pp) collisions is presented. The measurement uses data collected in pp collisions at $$\sqrt{s}=5.02$$ TeV, with a low number of simultaneous interactions per bunch crossing, recorded by the CMS experiment in 2017, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 301 pb⁻¹. An algorithm to identify and cluster the charged decay daughters of b hadrons is developed for this analysis, which facilitates the exposure of the gluon radiation pattern of b jets using iterative Cambridge-Aachen declustering. The soft-drop-groomed jet radius, R_g, and momentum balance, z_g, of b quark jetsmore » are presented. These observables can be used to test perturbative quantum chromodynamics predictions that account for mass effects. Because the b hadron is partially reconstructed from its charged decay daughters, only charged particles are used for the jet substructure studies. In addition, a jet fragmentation function, z_b,ch, is measured, which is defined as the distribution of the ratio of the transverse momentum (p_T) of the partially reconstructed b hadron with respect to the charged-particle component of the jet p_T. The substructure variable distributions are unfolded to the charged-particle level. The b jet substructure is compared to the substructure of jets in an inclusive jet sample that is dominated by light-quark and gluon jets in order to assess the role of the b quark mass. A strong suppression of emissions at small R_g values is observed for b jets when compared to inclusive jets, consistent with the dead-cone effect. The measurement is also compared with theoretical predictions from Monte Carlo event generators. This is the first substructure measurement of b jets that clusters together the b hadron decay daughters independent of the b hadron species and decay channel.« less

A search for a pair of light pseudoscalar bosons (a₁) produced in the decay of the 125 GeV Higgs boson is presented. The analysis examines decay modes where one a₁ decays into a pair of tau leptons and the other decays into either another pair of tau leptons or a pair of muons. The a1 boson mass probed in this study ranges from 4 to 15 GeV. The data sample was recorded by the CMS experiment in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb⁻¹. No excess above standard modelmore » (SM) expectations is observed. The study combines the 4τ and 2μ2τ channels to set upper limits at 95% confidence level (CL) on the product of the Higgs boson production cross section and the branching fraction to the 4τ final state, relative to the Higgs boson production cross section predicted by the SM. In this interpretation, the a₁ boson is assumed to have Yukawa-like couplings to fermions, with coupling strengths proportional to the respective fermion masses. The observed (expected) upper limits range between 0.007 (0.011) and 0.079 (0.066) across the mass range considered. The results are also interpreted in the context of models with two Higgs doublets and an additional complex singlet field (2HD+S). The tightest constraints are obtained for the Type III 2HD+S model. In this case, assuming the Higgs boson production cross section equals the SM prediction, values of the branching ratio for the Higgs boson decay into a pair of a1 bosons exceeding 16% are excluded at 95% CL for a1 boson masses between 5 and 15 GeV and tan β > 2, with the exception of scenarios in which the a1 boson mixes with charm or bottom quark-antiquark bound states.« less

Precision measurements of Higgs boson differential production cross sections are a key tool to probe the properties of the Higgs boson and test the standard model. New physics can affect both Higgs boson production and decay, leading to deviations from the distributions that are expected in the standard model. In this paper, combined measurements of differential spectra in a fiducial region matching the experimental selections are performed, based on analyses of four Higgs boson decay channels (γγ, ZZ$$^{(*)}$$, WW$$^{(*)}$$, and ττ) using proton-proton collision data recorded with the CMS detector at $$ \sqrt{s}=13 $$ TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminositymore » of 138 fb$$^{−1}$$. The differential measurements are extrapolated to the full phase space and combined to provide the differential spectra. A measurement of the total Higgs boson production cross section is also performed using the γγ and ZZ decay channels, with a result of $$ {53.4}_{-2.9}^{+2.9}{\left(\textrm{stat}\right)}_{-1.8}^{+1.9}\left(\textrm{syst}\right) $$ pb, consistent with the standard model prediction of 55.6 ± 2.5 pb. The fiducial measurements are used to compute limits on Higgs boson couplings using the κ-framework and the SM effective field theory.[graphic not available: see fulltext]« less

In the standard model of particle physics, the masses of the W and Z bosons, the carriers of the weak interaction, are uniquely related. A precise determination of their masses is important because quantum loops of heavy, undiscovered particles could modify this relationship. Although the Z mass is known to the remarkable precision of 22 parts per million (2.0 MeV), the W mass is known much less precisely. A global fit to measured electroweak observables predicts the W mass with 6 MeV uncertainty [1$$-$$3]. Reaching a comparable experimental precision would be a sensitive and fundamental test of the standard model,more » made even more urgent by a recent challenge to the global fit prediction by a measurement from the CDF Collaboration at the Fermilab Tevatron collider [4]. Here we report the measurement of the W mass by the CMS Collaboration at the CERN LHC, based on a large data sample of $$W \to \mu \nu$$ events collected in 2016 at the proton-proton collision energy of 13 TeV. The measurement exploits a high-granularity maximum likelihood fit to the kinematic properties of muons produced in W decays. By combining an accurate determination of experimental effects with marked in situ constraints of theoretical inputs, we reach a precise measurement of the W mass, of 80 360.2 $$\pm$$ 9.9 MeV, in agreement with the standard model prediction.« less

Measurements are presented of the W and Z boson production cross sections in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13.6 TeV. Data collected in 2022 and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.01 fb⁻¹ with one or two identified muons in the final state are analyzed. The results for the products of total inclusive cross sections and branching fractions for muonic decays of W and Z bosons are 11.93 ± 0.08 (syst) ± 0.17 (lumi) $$^{+0.07}_{−0.07}$$ (acceptance) nb for W⁺ boson production, 8.86 ± 0.06 (syst) ± 0.12 (lumi) $$^{+0.05}_{−0.06}$$ (acceptance) nb for W⁻ boson production, and 2.021 ±more » 0.009 (syst) ± 0.028 (lumi) $$^{+0.011}_{−0.013}$$ (acceptance) nb for the Z boson production in the dimuon mass range of 60–120 GeV, all with negligible statistical uncertainties. Furthermore, the corresponding fiducial cross sections, as well as cross section ratios for both fiducial and total phase space, are provided. The ratios include charge-separated results for W boson production (W⁺ and W⁻) and the sum of the two contributions (W^±), each relative to the measured Z boson production cross section. Additionally, the ratio of the measured cross sections for W⁺ and W⁻ boson production is reported. All measurements are in agreement with theoretical predictions, calculated at next-to-next-to-leading order accuracy in quantum chromodynamics.« less

The first measurement of pseudorapidity and azimuthal angle distributions relative to the momentum vector of a Z boson for low transverse momentum ($$p_\mathrm{T}$$) charged hadrons in lead-lead (PbPb) collisions is presented. By studying the hadrons produced in an event with a high-$$p_\mathrm{T}$$ Z boson (40 $$\lt$$ $$p_\mathrm{T}$$ $$\lt$$ 350 GeV), the analysis probes how the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) medium created in these collisions affects the parton recoiling opposite to the Z boson. Utilizing PbPb data at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy $$\sqrt{s_{_\mathrm{NN}}}$$ = 5.02 TeV from 2018 with an integrated luminosity of 1.67 nb$$^{-1}$$ and proton-proton (pp) data at the samemore » energy from 2017 with 301 pb$$^{-1}$$, the distributions are examined in bins of charged-hadron $$p_\mathrm{T}$$. A significant modification of the distributions for charged hadrons in the range 1 $$\lt$$ $$p_\mathrm{T}$$ $$\lt$$ 2 GeV in PbPb collisions is observed when compared to reference measurements from pp collisions. The data provide new information about the correlation between hard and soft particles in heavy ion collisions, which can be used to test predictions of various jet quenching models. The results are consistent with expectations of a hydrodynamic wake created when the QGP is depleted of energy by the parton propagating through it. Based on comparisons of PbPb data with pp references and predictions from theoretical models, this Letter presents the first evidence of medium-recoil and medium-hole effects caused by a hard probe.« less

A search for charged-lepton flavour violation (CLFV) in top quark (t) production and decay is presented. The search uses proton-proton collision data corresponding to 138 fb$$^{-1}$$ collected with the CMS experiment at $$\sqrt{s}$$ = 13 TeV. The signal consists of the production of a single top quark via a CLFV interaction or top quark pair production followed by a CLFV decay. The analysis selects events containing a hadronically decaying $$τ$$ lepton and a muon of opposite electric charge, as well as at least three jets, one of which is identified as originating from the fragmentation of a bottom quark. Machinemore » learning classification techniques are used to distinguish signal from standard model background events. The results of this search are consistent with the standard model expectations. The upper limits at 95% confidence level on the branching fraction $$\mathcal{B}$$ for CLFV top quark decays to a muon, a $$τ$$ lepton, and an up or a charm quark are set at $$\mathcal{B}$$(t $$\to$$ $μτ$u) $$\lt$$ (0.04, 0.08, and 0.12) $$\times$$ 10$$^{-6}$$, and $$\mathcal{B}$$(t $$\to$$ $μτ$c) $$\lt$$ (0.81, 1.71, and 2.05) $$\times$$ 10$$^{-6}$$ for scalar, vector, and tensor-like operators, respectively.« less

A search for t-channel exchange of leptoquarks (LQs) is performed in dimuon and dielectron spectra using proton-proton collision data collected at $$\sqrt{s}=13$$ TeV with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb⁻¹. Eight scenarios are considered, in which up or down quarks couple to muons or electrons via a scalar or vector LQ exchange, for dilepton invariant masses above 500 GeV. The LQ masses are probed up to 5 TeV, beyond a regime probed by previous pair-production and single-production searches. The differential distributions of dilepton events are fit to templates thatmore » model the nonresonant LQ exchange and various standard model background processes. Limits are set on LQ-fermion coupling strengths for scalar and vector LQ masses in the 1–5 TeV range at 95% confidence level, establishing stringent limits on first- and second-generation LQs.« less